About Cautious Coffee
Cautious Coffee was created in the summer of 2020 by Austin Staton and DeRae Crane as a forum for candid, often uncomfortable conversations. There is always something that we can learn from one another. Our purpose is to build a community that is a safe space to learn, grow, and gain knowledge on key issues that are impacting our country and culture. We invite our network to share their thoughts and insights on key societal issues as they see and understand them.
About DeRae Crane
DeRae Crane currently lives in Houston, Texas, and works in energy. He is originally from Davenport, Iowa, and is a military veteran with a deployment to Afghanistan.
His military career has spanned 11 years in the US Army. He spent six years as a logistics officer, and a member of the Army’s World Class Athlete Program where he participated in boxing. The last five have been spent as a Civil Affairs (CA) officer, leading a CA team that specializes in Central and South America, and the Caribbean.
Prior to joining corporate America and the Army, DeRae boxed for the U.S. Olympic Education Center at Northern Michigan University. He began boxing at the age of nine and retired from the sport in 2016 with a second-place finish at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Boxing Team Trials after a 20-year boxing career, competing in over 300 boxing matches. DeRae holds an MBA from Rice University and is a member of the Houston Business Journal’s 2024 40 Under 40 Class.
About Austin Staton
Austin Staton is an award-winning communicator with more than 15 years of experience. He currently works at CSX in Jacksonville, Fla., where he serves as the director of media relations. Prior to relocating to Florida, Austin served in a variety of media relations and communications roles in Houston at bp, TC Energy, and Pierpont Communications.
He is a past president of IABC Houston, and is the founder of three podcasts — Cautious Coffee, The Business Communicators and The Weekly Brew.
Austin is a native of The Woodlands, Texas. He graduated with a political science degree from Baylor University in 2010, and a certificate in sustainable business strategy from the Harvard Business School Online in 2021.
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